Toshiba has pulled the wraps off a new series of notebook computer called the KIRAbook. The machine is an all-new ultrabook promising a lightweight and compact design thanks to its magnesium alloy chassis.

The 2.6-lb machine has a 13-inch PixelPure display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 (221 pixels per inch). Toshiba promises that the screen delivers razor-sharp clarity for text, photos, movies, games, and other content types. The KIRAbook will be available in standard, and touch screen versions -- the touch screen version of the ultrabook supports 10-points of touch and Windows 8 gestures.

Toshiba says that a high-capacity lithium polymer battery promising all-day battery life, while storage duties are handled by a 256 GB SSD. The ultrabook will offer 8 GB of 1600 MHz memory and a range of third generation Intel Core processors.

Pre-orders for the KIRAbook will kick off on May 3 with purchases starting May 12 online. Pricing begins at $1599 and goes up to $1999 depending on the processor chosen.

There is no MBA w/ retina. There's one rumored to be in the pipeline for Q3 of this year. But as of right now, the MBAs have the worst displays of the Macs, and are average to subpar compared to ultrabook screens. Apple badly needs to update the MBA lines.

For close to a decade now I've been recommending Macbooks to photo and graphics people just so they didn't have to figure out which laptops had nice screens. The MBA didn't make the cut when I did side by side comparisons, and I've been discouraging people with those needs from getting one. I thought Apple was going to be first to put a nice screen on the ultralight/ultrathin form factor, but most major ultrabook vendors already have high-end models out which blow away the MBA's screen. Several have 1080p IPS screens.

The non-retina 13" MBP actually has worst displays. They are lower resolution and they have worse color accuracy based on Anandtech's benchmarks. That said, 13" MBPs and MBAs were never aimed at graphics professionals, the point of those were portability and battery life.